


Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

by Loran_Arameri



Series: Wardrobe-verse [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anal Sex, Biting, Blow Jobs, Bucky's fluffy pink blanket, Cat Tony Stark, Cat/Human Hybrids, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony-centric, soft steve rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 04:49:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18933754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loran_Arameri/pseuds/Loran_Arameri
Summary: Steve's life is as normal as it gets when you are a centenarian supersoldier leading a team of superheroes and living with your childhood sweetheart in a loft in Brooklyn.But then they acquire a part-feline cohabitant without knowing how or why, and Steve is sure he could get to the bottom of it if he could only figure out how to stop staring at that tail.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyUkkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyUkkey/gifts).



> Written for the Stuckony Discord gift exchange  
>  _Prompt: Tony has cat ears and tail, he is bewitched and has come from a gift that Bucky brought Steve he is from another time and world now they have to figure out what to do with him._
> 
> Menatiera helped me with brainstorming this fic and getting it off the ground.  
> Serinah did cheer-reading, beta and a lot of hand holding. Queen Maeve has edited the hell out of this and also kept me from falling into despair when I got the feeling I was running out of time. Thank you all three sooo much.
> 
> The title is from the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered". If you want to listen to it recommend this [version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fzZ4l2H5-w) by Ella Fitzgerald.

“It’s spacious and in really good condition,” Bucky said, between clenched teeth and huffing from the strain.

“It’s really heavy,” Steve answered while pushing the antique wardrobe into its final place. It matched exactly none of the other stuff in the study. Which meant it fit in perfectly.

Bucky scowled at him, “That’s the amazing quality. You don’t get them like this anymore. And we can put additional shelves in for your art stuff.”

Steve threw an arm over Bucky’s shoulders and pulled him in, pressing a kiss to his temple. He knew that Bucky had thought a lot how Steve would like it. After all, it was nothing that he would ever put in the the main area of their apartment. There everything was sleek, modern and very stylish. Bucky would probably rather torch everything than allow something with floral carvings in direct view of the terrible cubic monster he called a couch. Acknowledging all that, Steve said, “It’s wonderful, sweetheart. Thank you. I’m just glad we don’t have to move it another inch.”

There was a rumble before the doors of the wardrobe flew open. A person, clad in black, fell out and landed on the floor in a heap of limbs.

Steve turned to Bucky, starting to ask him what was going on. At the same time Bucky said, “What the fuck?”

So instead Steve asked, “Where did you say you bought this wardrobe?”

“From Loki, the old charlatan,” the tangle of body parts, which had jumped to its feet, said. It turned out to be a man. Well, mostly.

Steve felt his jaw drop before he could stop the movement. The man was about a head shorter than him and Bucky. His frame seemed to be on the lean side of muscular, as far as Steve could tell through the soft black tunic and trousers he was wearing, and his feet were bare. His dark hair fell in waves almost covering his eyes, and his beard was neatly trimmed. Nestled in the hair at both sides of his head were ears, triangular and … furred; black as his hair on the outside and tenderly pink within. They were slightly twitching now, as the man studied them both intensely, as was the long black-furred tail that was jutting out from behind the man’s back.

Steve was so perplexed that he didn’t even know what to ask.

Bucky thankfully wasn’t as perturbed. “What are you doing here?”

The answer was prompt. “I live here now.” And with that he strolled in the direction of the door.

Steve found his words again and sped after him, “There must be a misunderstanding.”

“The name is Tony,” the man said unprompted, walking out of the study and into the spacious loft. He quirked his head at nothing and turned left, as if he had seen something of interest there.

“Tony–” Steve started again, only to fall silent when Tony easily hopped onto the black sideboard that stood against the wall that parted the study from the loft. He shoved the books and fruitbowl away with short, precise movements and pulled his legs up for a moment. He poked at the mantle clock, before turning his head and shaking it shortly as if to get rid of a fly or a random thought, and jumped down again gracefully. 

He made no sound padding across the rug as he bordered the room. He had made his way past the opening of the little hallway that led to the bath and the bedroom and paused in the corner beside the front door. All Steve could do was stare enthralled at the tail, that was currently pointing up and forming a slight hook at its tip.

Bucky pushed past him, as he apparently hadn’t lost his words.

“Neat. I’m Bucky, there’s Steve,” he said sarcastically. “Now, Tony, I don’t know how you got to that conclusion, and I also don’t know how you got into a wardrobe that was empty when I loaded it into the van, but you are not moving in here.”

Tony, seemingly unaffected by anything Steve or Bucky were doing or saying, let a hand trail over the nearby bookcase, turning around and letting his eyes sweep the room as if measuring it. Then he deemed Bucky’s words worthy of an answer and, without turning to face them, said, “No, and I didn’t say I was.” He turned back to the wall examining the digital thermostat there. He hummed knowingly after a moment and turned back to continue his way around the room. When he stopped next he threw back a glance and Steve could have sworn he was studying Bucky’s metal arm which was the fast track to getting into trouble. But it only lasted a moment and Tony was moving again.

Steve forced himself to move too, instead of staring foolishly as Bucky followed the exploring Tony, who had reached the kitchen area kitty-corner from the study. Something about Tony, about his movements and his interaction with the space around him, was mesmerizing to Steve. 

Bucky was more in a problem solving mood. “Okay, good. Then, I don’t know, I can bring you back to Loki’s, I guess.”

“No, you can’t,” said Tony and hopped on the dinner table next to the kitchen, his feet dangling down, and again scanned the room.

“Oh, my god. You are not a cat!” Bucky snapped.

“Well, aren’t you perceptive,” Tony answered drily but pushed himself off the table, continued his way around the room and stopped just past the kitchen, scanning the loft again as if searching for anything that might have escaped his notice after covering two thirds of a sparingly furnished room.

Steve felt the need to step in when he noticed Bucky locking up his shoulders, as though to prepare himself for a fight.

He readied his most soothing and placating voice, the one he used for scared civilians and Bucky if he was about to strangle someone because they cut in line. He hoped he could still de-escalate the situation. There was really no need for confrontation. Bucky and Steve, as two supersoldiers, didn’t need to fear any type of home invasion and Tony seemed not to be aggressive in any way. 

“Tony.” For the first time the man actually looked at them, his cat ears pointed forward and his eyes met Steve’s for a moment before he blinked and they slid away again. “Tony, as we agree that you don’t live here–”

“You got that wrong. I _do_ live here,” Tony interrupted. He just had reached the couch in the middle of the room and climbed instantly on the back of it. 

When he stretched out along the backrest, Bucky grumbled, “No, just no,” and took several big strides towards the couch. Tony’s eyes widened and Bucky, maybe not seeing what Steve was seeing, extended his arm to grab him. Tony flew off the couch, actually pushing it into Bucky with the motion and landed right in front of the sideboard on the opposite wall, squatting with his hands splayed on the floor, his ears laid back and his tail weirdly rigid and doubled in size. A hissing noise had escaped him, before he forced his mouth closed.

Tony’s shirt had ridden up a bit, and a few things seemed to fall into place for Bucky at the same time as Steve.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you,” Bucky said very carefully after a pause.

Tony’s tail lost its tension and slowly fell back behind him. He put his knees to the floor, settling back onto his haunches.

Bucky continued, “How about we make dinner? After food everything usually looks much better.”

Tony’s ears slowly returned to face forward, and Steve relaxed too. He heard himself say, “You can sleep on the couch tonight and everything else will clear itself up tomorrow.”

When Tony nodded, a smile broke out on Steve’s face and he knew he probably looked much too happy for such a small reaction.

 

They had planned for salmon with spaghetti and spinach for dinner, and with the amounts they cooked to accommodate Steve and Bucky’s appetites they didn’t miss the small portion that Tony hastily devoured. That Tony sat down on a chair like a perfectly normal person was more surprising to Steve than it probably should have been.

After dinner, Tony stayed seated when Steve and Bucky started to load the dishwasher. It took a moment, but suddenly Tony’s head snapped to Steve, then back to the table where the pan was still sitting and finally back over to the dishwasher. He got up, grabbed the pan and brought it to Bucky.

“That doesn’t go in the washer. Give it here; I’ll put it in the sink,” Bucky said. For a moment both he and Tony were holding onto the pan and Tony’s tail for a second lightly wrapped around Bucky’s leg. Steve wasn’t sure either of them had even noticed. Then Bucky was putting the pan into the sink, and the moment was gone.

While finishing up, Steve suddenly saw flash from the small gap between two of the lower cabinets. He bowed down and teased out the item that had got caught there.

“What is it?” Bucky was curiously leaning around his shoulder. 

“The remote for the parking garage we thought we’d lost.” Steve turned it around in his fingers as if there might be a note on the back, saying where it had been all that time.

“How did it end up _there_?”

Steve had no idea and even less why he had only seen it today. Shaking his head, he went and put it in the key bowl.

After that he got the fluffy pink blanket from the back of their bedroom closet. Sam had given it to them as a housewarming gift, mostly to annoy Bucky. Which had worked like a charm. It clashed terribly with everything else in the apartment, but it was warm and unbelievably soft. Steve put it down on the couch and Bucky brought an additional pillow from somewhere. 

Steve smiled at Tony, who was standing a few steps off. “If there is anything you need, don’t hesitate to come get us.” As he moved back from the couch, he hoped that Tony would be finally settling down on it. Steve was somehow afraid he might just crouch down in some corner or atop the bookshelf instead.

But Tony made his way over to the couch and in passing his tail shortly brushed against Steve’s hand. Startled by the softness, he barely managed to not make any sudden movements. He even waited a second before pressing the hand to his face.

Tony took a moment to inspect the blanket and pressed his hands alternatingly into it as if testing to see if the softness would wear off. As he had done that to his satisfaction, he pulled it all around him, giving the impression of a fluffy pink ball, and let his head sink into the pillow.

They said their good nights, and Bucky and Steve went to their bedroom. Bucky left the door slightly ajar.

“Was that your second pillow you gave Tony?” Steve asked truly shocked, when he saw that Bucky only had one left. He had once gotten an elbow to the face when he had tried to steal one of Bucky’s pillows. And maybe because he called him a pillow princess at the same time.

“The throw pillows are nothing you can sleep on,” Bucky answered, taking the toothbrush from his mouth.

Steve couldn’t hide his amusement. “You didn’t think so when Clint stayed over.” 

Bucky said, “Not only does Clint sleep through briefings, he’s done it on the Quinjet, with turbulence, with his head on his quiver. You could fill a pillowcase with gravel, and he would sleep like a baby.”

They continued their nightly routine and went to bed.

It was only after Steve had turned off the lights that Bucky asked softly, “Did you see his ribs when he made that jump?” 

Steve had indeed. Tony’s shirt had ridden up and exposed a much too thin midriff that was covered in fading bruises.

“I'll go and talk to Loki tomorrow,” Steve answered. “I’ll wear Natasha’s catsuit for the next mission if he didn’t know that Tony was in there.”

Bucky’s hand found Steve’s under the covers. “He stays with us until we know what’s going on.” It wasn’t a question.

Steve squeezed Bucky’s hand. “At least.”

* * *

The next day they found Tony still on the couch, but completely covered by that pink monstrosity posing as a blanket. Bucky lifted it at one end to see where his head was and found a grumpy looking Tony, squinting up at him. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it out of Bucky’s hand to disappear under it again.

Bucky knew it wasn’t nice and surely not helpful, but he had to snicker it was so cute. He started the coffee and Steve looked at him, drawing up an eyebrow and grinning before throwing some bacon into a pan. 

It took less than five minutes for Tony to emerge from under his covers and slowly prowl towards the kitchen. Well, Bucky wasn’t sure how much ears and tail influenced his perception, but to him it looked like prowling. Meanwhile, Steve had also scrambled some eggs and was continuously replacing the bacon in the first pan when it was done. They went through a lot of that stuff when they made the effort of cooking breakfast. 

Steve put an extra egg in there too, sunny side up for Bucky since he liked his yolk runny. “Look at that,” he said. “Two egg yolks. It’s your lucky day, Buck.”

Tony stepped up to the cooking isle, snatched a handful of bacon before retreating hastily back to the dinner table. He carefully started to nibble on one of the strips sticking out of his hand in all directions, watching them all the while.

“Don’t fill up on bacon. There is also eggs and toast and –” Steve rummaged through the fridge. “– about a hundred other things if you want some.” The slight exasperation in Steve’s voice about the plethora of different things in the fridge was probably only audible to Bucky. But Bucky liked to try new things. There were so many different things now, how was he not supposed to be curious. Okay, he probably should have thrown the stuff out that turned out to be horrible. But it wasn’t inedible, and he couldn't bring himself to waste it.

Tony swallowed the piece of bacon he just had bitten off. He looked from Steve to Bucky and back to Steve again. “Bacon is good.” 

Steve smiled and shrugged, “Alright then. More bacon coming up.”

Bucky grabbed two mugs before looking back at Tony. His tail was flicking quickly, and he was staring at the mugs in Bucky’s hands. Smiling, Bucky turned back to the cabinet and took a third mug out. He filled them up and put them on the table, Tony watching him apprehensively. Only after Bucky stepped away did he reach cautiously for a mug. When Bucky returned with plates, Tony was sitting in the same spot he had sat yesterday, left leg drawn up on the chair, one hand still full of bacon and the other tightly wrapped around the coffee mug. He alternated between nibbling on the bacon and nursing the coffee. With nothing else to grab, Bucky sat down.  
When Steve put a plate piled high with bacon right in front of Tony and the other things more to the middle of the table, Tony asked, “Do you have honey?” He put down the last strip of bacon from his hand on to his plate and reached for a slice of toast. 

“Sure do.” Steve got up and got the honey from the pantry. Bucky nudged the butter closer to Tony, not commenting on the fact he could also have asked him for the honey. The easiness that had trickled in at dinner seemed to have evaporated during the night. At least he was still more comfortable around Steve. Hopefully that would be enough to build on.

“So, want to tell us where you came from?” he inquired after Tony had buttered his slice of toast and put a generous amount of honey on it.

Tony’s voice was all bristles, “From the wardrobe.”

“You weren’t in the wardrobe when I loaded it up.”

Looking in another direction Tony stuffed half of the toast into his mouth. 

Steve tried a different angle. “Did you bring anything with you? Clothes or...”

“I have everything I need,” Tony cut him off.

Bucky decided to offer him something to change into later on. With the mood he was in now he wouldn’t tell them anything, not even if he would need something desperately.

* * *

After breakfast, Steve tried to call Loki but, as always, he didn’t answer his cell. Neither of the brothers took them anywhere. Steve had been tempted more than once to try chase some crows down at the park in the hope they could relay messages to the ever evasive brothers. There had been one huge bird like that once, bringing news from Asgard to Loki. Steve’s dignity was only saved that day because the raven left before he could ask if he could pet it. Bucky had noticed how he had turned his head after every black bird for days after, and when he was finally done laughing, he had told Steve that it was probably a magic bird that didn’t exist on Earth.

For lack of other options, Steve called Thor with the same result. The phones also functioned as notification if there was an Avengers alarm. Neither Thor nor Loki had ever missed one of those. Steve had stopped wondering how, as long as they always showed up when they were needed. Since the Asgardians had made a home on Earth they were the Avengers’ heaviest hitters. That they lived together in a two bedroom apartment in Queens had lost its novelty pretty quickly. 

Resigned to waiting for Loki to return his call Steve decided to take the time and draw. Usually he would have gone for a run before breakfast or done some light exercise sometime after, but with Tony around, everything seemed a little different. 

Bucky had settled down on the couch with a book and was pretending for all the world not to be watching as Tony strolled around the loft again. Steve went to the study but left the door open. Tony prowled the main area, pausing for a while to stare suspiciously at the only closed door in the apartment, before settling down in the swiveling armchair that Steve never had figured out how to sit on comfortably. Tony turned it away from the room, either to get most of the sun shining through the loft windows or to keep an eye on Steve. Maybe both. Intentionally or not, he was also out of Bucky’s sight.

Steve’s hands lost themselves in bringing pencil lines to paper and going for what came to mind easily. It started with the wardrobe, the last point where things still had been normal. Steve and Bucky's normal at least. 

It was a beautiful piece, as if Bucky would ever bring Steve anything less. Steve gave it broad lines for the shape and only put more details into the carvings. The small things you might not even see at first but that shaped the whole picture. When he was satisfied with the overall appearance, he started to sketch Tony on top, his feet dangling off the side. Tony had not actually climbed the wardrobe since he had tumbled out of it, but it was probably just a question of time. Even if Steve hadn’t seen it yet, it still felt right. 

Steve couldn't keep his pencil from skipping from ears to tail to face and back to the way Tony was holding himself, not working on any detail for long. From time to time he glanced back out at the real Tony. To see the way his tail was slightly curling while dangling down or get the exactly right position of the cat ears. Every time Steve looked over, Tony was always looking elsewhere, most often with his face turned towards the sun and his eyes closed, but each time Steve would have sworn up and down that he had been watching just a second ago.

Eventually, Steve acknowledged the impossibility of putting what he saw in Tony on paper. He didn’t even understand it yet, how could he draw it? But even so, the sketch was unfinished. He added Bucky leaning against the wardrobe on the opposite side from Tony. Steve didn't need any reference for that. With Bucky, he didn’t even attempt to have everything right there on the paper anymore. He had given up on that a long time ago. He had tried back before the war and thought that he just had to get better, practise more. But it only ever had looked less like what he wanted to depict, what he wanted to show to anyone who cared to look. 

And with time the challenge had become greater, as not only Bucky changed but their relationship with him. On the surface, Steve's favorite detail was Bucky’s hair: from the short crop of the boy who went to war, to the long strands of the Winter Soldier, to the undercut that Steve loved to run his fingers through now. He had long since settled for doing snapshots of Bucky at a single point in time. Reducing all of space and time down to one image that could never tell the whole truth.

Looking at the finished thing, it was the same for Tony as for Bucky, although he sure didn’t know Tony as well yet. Maybe never would. But, trailing his fingers over his own sketch, Steve dared to hope.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Tony entering the study. He padded into the room, ignoring Steve and wandering around in it, which was quite a feat considering its small size. Tony managed to look like he was exploring a vast domain.

“Not enough sunshine in the loft?” Steve asked.

"There's other things that can be disruptive to a good nap." Tony trailed his hands over the desk flowing over with art supplies. Bucky hadn’t been wrong when he said Steve needed somewhere to put them. On the other hand, that was why they had bought the other two cupboards and the bookcase and the deep chest. There was just so much you could buy these days and Steve now had the money to get it all.

Steve’s phone rang and Tony tilted his head at the noise. It wasn’t Loki but Thor, asking Steve to come over without bothering to ask why he had called. “Will Bucky be accompanying you?”

Steve looked back at Tony. “No, he has something else to take care of.”

* * *

After Steve had left, Bucky wondered what to do with Tony, who had wandered back the lounge chair by the window to pointedly not watch Steve’s departure. Steve had taken him aside to tell him to be careful and try to make Tony feel welcome. Well, clearly Steve was the master tactician, because Bucky had been about to start banging pots and pans together, screaming “I hate cat people” at the top of his lungs.

But Steve had a point. Bucky returned from saying goodbye to him at the door but only made it to the couch, still a good bit off from the seat by the window, and Tony was already scanning the room as if searching for cover. But before Bucky could come up with something to say to avert the impending crisis, Tony shook his head shortly. Bucky got the impression that he was shoving any obvious display of emotion as far down as possible. Then he asked, “So, this is Midgard?” getting out of the chair at the same time.

Bucky made an effort to keep his eyebrows from climbing his forehead. Midgard. Tony was definitely connected to Loki then. “Yes,” Bucky answered and bit down on the impulse to question again where Tony came from. He turned with Tony’s motion.

“Changed a lot since the last time I was around.” Tony moved easily across the room, not clinging to the wall like he did yesterday. Bucky breathed more freely. 

“I don’t know when that was, but things have changed a lot.” He suddenly had an idea, remembering how after he escaped Hydra the internet had made all the information he could wish for available to him on a portable screen. Before, all gadgets had been mission implements. Now, they offered him the world. Everything was there for him to discover at his own pace.

He dove into the sideboard drawer and pulled out their tablet. “If you want to, we could look at everything that has changed since the last time you were here. It’s all available online.”

Tony slowly made his way over, reaching out for the tablet. Bucky handed it to him. 

Tony just said, “Thanks” and then disappeared into bathroom.

Bucky was really patient, but after two hours, he really had to pee. He knocked on the bathroom door, but when there was no answer, he opened it and went in.

Tony lay in the bathtub wrapped in the pink plush blanket and was avidly tapping on the tablet. Bucky was momentarily baffled trying to figure out how Tony had gotten that garishly colored catastrophe passed him without his notice.

“I can’t imagine that this is more comfortable than the couch,” Bucky said.

“It isn’t,” Tony answered. 

After he said nothing more for several moments, Bucky said, “Well, I have to actually use the toilet.”

Tony made a waving gesture again, still fully concentrated on the tablet. “It’s right there.”

Bucky stared at the ceiling for a moment and decided Tony was not doing it on purpose. Hopefully.

“Would you please leave the room?” he asked.

Tony looked up at him confused, but, after taking a long look at Bucky’s face, stretched leisurely, gathered himself out of the bathtub and left the room, the blanket trailing behind him.

 

When Bucky came back to the loft he couldn’t see Tony and for a moment was afraid that he had left. But then he noticed a movement from the corner of his eye. Tony was sitting atop the sideboard again and his tail was flicking from side to side.

Bucky didn’t comment about the couch being right there. “Did you get the hang of the tablet?” 

Tony scoffed, “It’s not really complicated, is it?”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Okay, I shouldn’t have underestimated you, Mr. Tech Genius. Although there are people that have issues with this stuff and that’s completely okay.” Bucky remembered the time he had tried to explain to Thor why it wasn’t a good idea to have his phone in his pocket while channeling lightning.

“The tech that can resist me doesn’t exist.”

Bucky couldn’t keep the challenge out of his voice. “Is that so?”

“Why, Bucky? Do you think you’ve got something that’ll stump me?” Tony tilted his head as if studying Bucky.

Bucky beckoned Tony over to the low chest under the window to what was probably his favorite piece of tech.

“Steve bought this record player for me. He thought it was silly that I wanted the records when everything is available online.” Bucky shrugged. He knew it was the same music but listening to it that way was still different. He had put on a record every time something good happened to him. It was a form of celebrating, of luxury, to take the time to listen to a whole 12-inch record. There were weeks he put one on every single day and times he didn’t get to do it for weeks.

“One day the table stopped turning. I need to take it in for repair but …” The one time he had gone to the store to buy a new needle, he had felt more displaced than ever before. The guy at the shop had wanted to talk about current music and how much better it was on record, and Bucky hadn’t felt like explaining what music he actually had at home, that he was clinging to the music of his youth. Bucky thought that he should at least try to get into something new. He was almost as bad as Steve with his weird love for kitschy furniture. Bucky made a mental note to get some doilies to poke fun at him. On the other hand, Steve might actually like them. 

In any case, it wasn’t that Bucky couldn’t go back to the store, but connecting the refuge the music gave him with the alieness he had felt there wasn't something he was looking forward to. So he had put it off.

Tony had come up beside him. “I can take a look.”

“We don’t even have tools,” Bucky answered with a mirthless huff.

“What do you think these are for?” Tony asked, holding his hand palm up, the fingers slightly curled inwards and a sharp claw protruding from every single one. He took a step back and Tony grinned, his tail twitching in small snaps back and forth. He was sure that just a moment ago Tony’s hands had been completely human.

Tony turned the record player on it’s side and unscrewed the bottom plate, while Bucky watched fascinated.

“Are there record players where you come from?” Bucky asked when the shock had worn off somewhat.

“No, there’s other stuff. I mean, different places develop different solutions to the same problems. But the physics stays the same. You just need to figure out how it’s applied. In this case, it’s pretty straight forward. Still a neat concept.”

Bucky watched as Tony disconnected a few cables and prodded at some others. He watched fascinated for a while, only to realize that it would probably take longer than a quick look for Tony to figure out the problem and fix it.

“Ehm, do you want some water or something to eat? I mean, I’m not really helpful staring over your shoulder.” 

“Water would be great.”

Bucky filled a pitcher in the kitchen and grabbed some pretzels for good measure. He put it all on a tray and carried it over to the couch table. He filled a glass for Tony and went back over. Tony was already screwing the bottom plate on and setting the player back down. Bucky wondered if he had found something that he couldn’t repair when Tony asked, “Do you have a record?”

Bucky put down the glass beside the player on the chest and went to get his favorite record. He put it on the player, starting the turntable. It started to move smoothly and Bucky reverently put the needle down. The comforting crackling sounded throughout the loft and Bucky could feel a weight drop from his chest. He had missed this.

His face must have shown as much, as Tony asked, “It works like you expected?”

Bucky turned to look at him. “Yes, it does. This amazing. Thank you, Tony.” He made as if to step closer to Tony, wanting to hug him, but stopped himself in the last moment, remembering what had happened the day before when he had tried to grab him. Ella Fitzgerald was singing about foolish things that shouldn’t be as important as they were, and he could feel his face showing all the relief and thankfulness and unbridled joy about having his favorite pastime back.

“You’re happy,” Tony commented, his voice bordering on incredulousness.

“Well, aren’t you perceptive,” Bucky teased.

Tony laughed, the light sound mixing with the music, making both sound so much more real. Bucky felt an equally free laugh erupt from his own body and had to close his eyes for a moment. He opened them again when he felt a bump against the underside of his chin. Tony had ducked his head and was pressing it up against Bucky. His hair was soft and only minorly tickling. For a moment Bucky hesitated, but then he put a hand on Tony’s hair.

* * *

Steve had been sitting on the big comfy couch in the Queens apartment with a large glass of iced tea for two entire hours when Loki came back home. Most of the time he’d spent listening to Thor’s latest adventures with random people he met on the streets of New York. Loki had been off doing whatever it was Loki did on a regular day with no missions. Steve felt like a bad leader; he really should know what the Avengers liked to do in their free time. But he had a strong suspicion he didn’t know about Loki’s habits because Loki didn’t want him to know. On the other hand, he was now very well informed about every person that Thor had met in the last three days, which was saying something because Thor went out and befriended strangers on a daily basis. Just this morning he had apparently done Tai Chi with a group of pensioners in a park on the way back from a bakery where he had bought some special muffins their upstairs neighbor liked for breakfast.

Almost unnoticeably, Loki startled for a second before greeting him. “Steve, what are you doing here? Have I missed a call to assemble?”

Thor cut in before Steve could answer, “But you can’t miss an alarm, Loki. You have put an enchantment on our alarming device to avoid that.”

Loki turned around to hang up his mantle, and Steve was sure he was rolling his eyes while his back was turned. He looked back at Thor who was smirking, obviously happy about having thwarted Loki’s lie. Why Loki and Thor were living together when they were bickering at least half of the time was a mystery the rest of the team had discussed often but never been able to answer to anyone’s satisfaction.

Loki turned back to them. “If there is no mission, what does bring you here? Are you just catching up with Thor?”

Steve decided to just go straight for it, “You sold Bucky a wardrobe yesterday?”

“Sold? I thought you made it a gift to Bucky and Steve,” Thor asked. This time he sounded honestly surprised.

Loki answered, “I made a gift of procuring it, but he still paid for the expenses.”

Steve didn’t care for Loki’s splicing and reinterpreting. “The wardrobe wasn’t empty.”

Loki turned and walked towards his room.Without turning back, he said, “It was when I handed it over to him.”

Steve got up and followed after him. “But it wasn’t when we put it up. Where did it come from?”

“A friend of a friend … you know how these things come to pass,” Loki answered, ending the sentence as if it explained a whole lot more than it actually did.

“And the previous owner is not going to miss … the wardrobe?” Steve asked.

“Maybe, but it suits you much better. You will undoubtedly appreciate it more.”

Steve huffed. This was where the double meanings in their exchange became obvious. The wardrobe would have stuck out in the loft like a sore thumb. It only fit into the study because it was where Steve had chosen most of the furniture, very haphazardly as he was ready to admit. Bucky loved the spaciousness of the loft and said it needed clear lines. And Steve liked it too, but the study was his to make a mess of and that’s why he loved that Bucky gave him the wardrobe.

He had loved it even before a tangle of limbs, two furry ears and a tail had fallen out. Before they had decided to keep said ears and tail after seeing what he must have been through. Keeping for now, Steve reprimanded himself.

“I would like to talk to that someone, about the condition of the wardrobe,” Steve said. It was obvious that Loki knew Tony from somewhere. Tony had practically told them as much. And Loki would be the last person to miss details like Tony’s much too low weight and bruises.

Loki looked at him, as if weighing how much to say. “It would be best if said owner never learns about the whereabouts of the wardrobe. Enjoy that you have it now and let’s never speak of it again.”

Thor had followed them to Loki’s room. “Is there something wrong with the furniture Loki sold Bucky?” He looked from Steve to Loki. “He will surely take it back if something isn’t right. Or if whatever was left in it caused any problems”

Steve shook his head. “No, we’re keeping the wardrobe. It’s one of a kind.”

 

On his way back, Steve picked up some clothing better suited to Tony’s lithe frame and, as he was already at the store, he decided to pick up a few more groceries. He thought about telling Bucky it had been necessary because they now had three mouths to feed, but they both knew Tony’s share would hardly make a dent in their stocks. Bucky would see right through him. 

Steve just wanted to take care of Tony, without going overboard and scaring him off. This morning he had been drawn back and skittish again and while Steve knew they couldn’t expect a dramatic change overnight, he was going to do everything he could to show Tony the kindness he deserved and had obviously been missing wherever he came from. 

Steve picked up more bacon, and when he saw that they had fresh tuna steaks, he couldn’t keep himself from getting some for dinner. The store actually didn’t stock fresh fish, so it was a fortunate coincidence that they started the day after he met someone who enjoyed fish a lot.

So much for not going overboard. 

He made his way back to the apartment in record time. He didn’t know who he needed to be thankful to for the surprisingly low traffic but he really appreciated it. He had started to worry about leaving Tony and Bucky alone for so long, and was only reassured by the lack of a distress calls. This morning it had been clear that Tony didn’t trust them fully yet, and Bucky could have a short fuse at times, so Steve was nervous about having been gone nearly half the day. 

After he had parked his motorbike in the garage he took the five flights of stairs up to the apartment. It was a habit he didn’t want to shake, although Bucky always rolled his eyes at him, reminding him that there had been elevators before he went into the ice and that he had even gotten to ride in several. It had been one of the few things from the USO tour he bothered telling Bucky about. But he usually found the routine a nice part of coming home. This time, he spent the whole climb wondering what would be waiting for him.

When he opened the door to the loft, he was greeted by the picture of Tony sprawled on his front on the couch, his tail lazily swinging from side to side, and Bucky sitting next to him. He was turned towards Tony, one leg folded under him, petting Tony’s head with his metal hand, while the other was supporting his own head against the back of the couch. They took no notice of Steve coming back, although he knew that Bucky had already heard him coming up the stairs, and from the way Tony’s ears perked up, he would bet that Tony also knew he was there.

Steve didn’t comment on the scene but brought his purchases to the kitchen, putting away the food and leaving the clothes on one of the chairs. Then he slowly made his way over to the couch.

Putting his hands on the back of it, he leaned over to see Tony, head turned to the side, opening one eye to look at him while still enjoying his head being scratched. Bucky’s hand actually wandered up to trail his fingers over one of the cat ears, and Tony hummed in contentment.

“You know that this is my boyfriend, right?” Steve asked, a little laugh in his voice at how invested the two of them were in what they were doing.

Tony turned his head a bit more towards Steve, opened his other eye and very slowly lifted his arm to plant a hand in the middle of Bucky’s thigh while still fixating Steve.

Steve shook with laughter. This should probably have been a bigger issue for him, but it wasn’t. 

When he finally managed to stop laughing, he dried a tear from his eye. Bucky turned his head and said, “Welcome home,” then tilted his head up for a kiss. 

Steve drew up an eyebrow and looked at Tony before leaning down to give Bucky his hello-kiss. When they parted and Steve glanced back down at Tony, he was still looking at him, and Steve had no doubt that he had been watching closely the whole time. Heat trailed down Steve’s spine, and he had to swallow hard.

“So, have you been doing that all day?” he asked, walking around the couch, and because he did not want to disturb the cozy scene, plopping down on the couch by Tony’s feet where there was still space.

Bucky laughed out an answer. “Where do you think the music is coming from? Tony fixed the record player.” 

Steve’s gaze wandered over to the record player and back to Tony. For a moment, he wondered how he hadn’t noticed, but then the way Tony’s eyes flicked from Bucky to Steve and back again caught all of his attention. Whatever had happened with the record player in Steve's absence was obviously important.

Steve, curious as to what this was about, asked, “You did that?”

“After I read about the state of your technology on your internet, it wasn’t too hard.” Tony huffed, but the slight bragging seemed hollow.

“You learned how to fix a record player from the internet?”

“No, the internet told me what principles Midgardian technology uses today and the rest was self-evident.” Tony’s tone became a little bit warmer but also smug.

“Wow, so these are well-deserved head scratches, I see.” Steve laughed.

But when Tony looked unsure again, Steve instantly regretted it although he had no idea what he had said wrong.

Bucky stepped in, “I’m not sure who of us enjoys this more.” He dropped a second hand to Tony’s head, and for a moment Tony appeared to fight with himself before closing his eyes again. 

“His hair is so soft and the fur on his ears is even softer,” Bucky said almost reverently. A deep thrumming sound seemed to erupt from Tony’s middle. Steve looked at Bucky in bewilderment. Bucky just smiled so fondly that Steve blinked and looked again to make sure that he was seeing things correctly. “Yes, he is purring. He loves it when I call him soft.”

Tony huffed and stopped the purring, but Bucky just kept up his ministrations and in a minute Tony was purring again. Bucky leaned a bit down and stage whispered directly at Tony, “Soft.”

Steve was almost hypnotized by the scene. Tony, who had been touch shy and distrustful when Steve had left just this morning, seemed absolutely relaxed now. And Bucky, who didn’t take to people easily, had already in-jokes with him and was sharing his beloved music.

Bucky looked up at him and smiled conspiratorially before asking Tony, “Hey, can Steve pet your hair too? He really needs to feel this for himself.” 

Tony kept on purring but opened his eyes back up and nodded.

Slowly, Steve got up and sat back down in front of the couch. Tony’s eyes followed him the whole way and he hesitated a moment before putting a hand down beside Bucky’s. He ran the strands through his hand. “Wow, that’s soft,” he whispered to himself. He had thought it was just a joke.

Tony’s purring got louder and Bucky smirked at Steve. They stayed like this for a minute, Bucky and Steve both petting Tony’s head and just when Steve had the feeling that he needed to think about how weird this really was, Tony turned his face into his palm and Steve found himself scratching at his goatee. He forgot all about the weirdness right then. “How is your beard that soft?” he exclaimed. It was not as silky as the hair on his ears or as cushiony as the waves on his head, but it was strong and smooth at the same time.

After a while, Steve noticed that Tony had fallen asleep. Above him, their eyes met and in a low voice Bucky offered to make dinner.

Steve stayed with Tony, actually getting up on the couch and only waking him when dinner was ready. He thought about stroking his thumb over Tony’s cheekbone from where his hand was still resting in Tony’s hair, but was too afraid to startle him. Instead Steve started to call his name in a low voice. Tony blinked at him and smiled when his eyes focused on Steve, but sat up a moment later, his attention completely on Bucky setting the table.

This time, Tony didn’t seem to fear that the food might be taken away and they spent the whole meal in relaxed familiarity. Steve caught himself imagining what it might be like to have this every day.

After dinner, they all settled down on the couch to watch some TV. At first, Tony sat between the two of them, with his legs carefully pulled up close so as to avoid contact. Steve took a moment to regret that their easy moment from before dinner had passed, before reminding himself that this was new to all of them. It was okay; they could get there again. 

However, it didn’t take long before Tony was fidgeting restlessly, and going through just about every position a person could take while sitting on a piece of furniture. Finally, he ended up curled on his side, one leg tucked into his torso, with his head in Steve’s lap and his tail and other leg stretched across Bucky.

Steve took it as an invitation to put his hand in Tony’s hair again, and he was rewarded with Tony turning his head this way and that so as to direct Steve’s fingers where to go.

At some point, Bucky put a hand on Tony’s back which made him purr again. From time to time it became so loud it was hard to understand what was being said on TV, but Steve didn’t really care.

Tony’s tail started wandering and after a short while smacked Bucky in the face, who caught it with his metal hand. Tony kept on purring, maybe even louder, and Bucky tentatively let his hand glide along the furry length. From the way it kept flicking into his hand when he opened it, Tony liked that too.

When Bucky’s flesh hand rubbed lower at the spot where tail attached to butt, the flicking stopped but the purring continued. Steve noticed that Tony’s head started to move more intensely, too, pushing into his hand demandingly, turning this way and that. Suddenly, Tony froze. The next moment he lifted his head from Steve’s lap, turned his face up and bit down on the arm that had been petting him.

Steve was too startled to say anything even when Tony put a hand on his thigh slightly curled, exposing sharp claws that punched through his jeans into his skin. 

All Steve could do was to sit completely still. Between Tony’s teeth in his arm and his claws on his leg, his mind had gone awfully blank. His body was completely on board, though.

He was lucky that Tony’s head was turned upwards or he might have noticed the outline of Steve’s dick becoming visible through his pants. The points where Tony was touching felt as if they were on fire. Steve wanted nothing more than to touch Tony again. But, not having been invited to do anything else, he put his other hand back into Tony’s hair. He let the plush curls run through his fingers and then traced the outline of the cat ears. The sound coming from Tony’s mouth still closed around Steve’s forearm could have been a sigh, or a hum, or a moan. All while he was still purring loudly. 

Steve looked up over Tony and found his boyfriend’s eyes. Bucky’s pupils were blown and he was playing with Tony’s tail between his metal fingers, while the other hand disappeared under Tony’s shirt. Bucky threw a deliberate glance down at Steve’s crotch and back up again and of course he would notice. He knew how Steve reacted to being bitten. The metal finger rubbed the tail against the fur for a short distance. Tony bit down harder. Steve took a big gulp of air.

Slowly his brain came back online, at least partly. “I think it’s time for bed.”

He carefully removed his arm from Tony’s mouth and then twisted out from beneath his head, which landed on the couch with a thump. Steve winced. But that only lasted a moment before he was grabbing Bucky’s hand and pulling him up and towards the bedroom.

“I guess we’ll see you in the morning,” Bucky hollered over his shoulder, before Steve closed the bedroom door behind them. Steve undressed Bucky on the way to their bed and they landed on the floor twice before they made it there. Crawling up on the bed, Bucky laughed out a huff. “Are we going to talk about this?”

“No,” Steve answered and kissed him deeply before he could start to laugh again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Bucky and Tony are listening to is [These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mshV7ug8cdE).


	2. Chapter 2

Breakfast was not so much tense, as Tony was outright glaring daggers at them throughout the whole meal. Steve tried to bribe him with large amounts of bacon, but Tony took the bacon and continued to scowl at him.

Maybe they needed some ground rules. They definitely needed ground rules. But there were others topics to discuss, too. Steve didn’t want to talk about anything serious before breakfast, though. He wasn't avoiding it because he was still embarrassed by his reaction from last night. No, sir.

“Any chance you tell us today how you ended up here?” Steve asked after they were done eating and had cleared the table of everything but their coffee mugs. He knew the chances were slim but he wasn’t about to give up either.

Tony drew up an eyebrow to emphasize his glaring but otherwise didn’t react. 

Steve pushed back his chair. “Well, as you’re staying you’ll need your own space. You can’t just crash on the couch forever.”

“Why not?” Tony asked, bristling.

Bucky, who until now had only been leaning back and observing the situation, turned in his chair and put his left hand on the table palm up. It was a uncharacteristically open and vulnerable gesture, drawing attention to his metal hand. Steve wondered for a moment where this was going, but he trusted Bucky completely.

“Tony, you need your own space,” Bucky said. “I mean, you can just curl up in the bathtub whenever you want to but maybe you’ll enjoy an actual bed. Or a nice fern for you to roll up in.”

“I’m not a cat,” Tony answered, but his tone and posture had actually relaxed a bit.

Steve took the opening, “As this wonderful apartment only has three rooms–”

“Shut up, jerk. You love the loft,” Bucky seethed.

Steve chuckled. “I do, but I still think that walls have their perks.”

Bucky ignored him. “What he is trying to say, is that there is another spare room. We just need to clean it up.”

“Buck, no. I was talking about the study.”

“You need the study. I won’t have you moping because someone ran over your inspiration by burping in the wrong moment.”

“Someone? Hm-mh.”

Tony interrupted, “What are you crazy people talking about?”

Steve began, “We both have kind of our own rooms–”

“Steve has a study to draw and paint and get righteously angry in, so I don’t have to see it. And there is another room that is full of stuff that we don’t need. We just need to get it all out, decide what goes into storage and what should be given away, and you have a perfectly fine room.”

“You searched for that stuff for years, Buck.”

Tony reached out and laid his hand on Bucky’s. Although Bucky smiled at him, the smile had several layers; wistfulness, trust, melancholy, and a connection that was probably too deep too soon. Steve understood.

“We were … away for a while. Why am I trying to talk around it? You’ve probably heard weirder stuff. You actually are weirder stuff and coming from me that means a lot. Steve and I we grew up together, fought together and then Stevie got frozen and I wasn’t myself for 70 years. We both came back from that and to each other but everything else was lost.” He stroked his thumb along the back of Tony’s hand. “I should have been happy that I had Steve back and not be maudlin about everything–”

“Bucky, don’t say that. It’s okay for you to not be okay,” Steve interrupted.

“I know. What I'm trying to say–” he turned back to Tony, “I was struggling with everything for a long time and I tried to gather as much of our old lives as I could find. Not things that reminded me of the thirties or even authentic stuff from back then, but things that had actually belonged to us. Turns out there was a lot of crap being sold as Captain America’s favorite coffee mug, but some items were genuine.” He put his right hand atop Tony’s, lightly, to give him the chance to pull away at any moment. “I even found things from our friends and families. I got it all and put it in the other room to decide how to…”

He thought for minute and Steve didn’t interrupt, waiting to hear what Bucky was going to say. He never had asked Bucky what he planned to do with the relics of their old lives. He hadn't wanted to disrupt the solace Bucky seemed to get from collecting them.

“I had no idea what I was going to do with all that stuff. I just wanted to have it; I don’t know ... to find something that made its way to the present with us. Something else that survived, telling me that existing here was possible, that surviving wasn’t wrong. It felt wrong to leave them with random collectors who bought them as trophies. I liked to have those things close by but I never even took a second look at any of those pieces once they were in there.”

Tony’s eyes were trained on Bucky, not even his tail moving. He looked open, taking all of what Bucky was saying, offering really, in with a focus that Steve wouldn’t have thought he was capable of.

“And now I think, I would feel much better if I knew that you were in there. That it’s your room. I’d like to fill it with life instead of dead stuff. Building something new.”

Tony put his other hand between Bucky’s. “You would do that?”

“Yeah, I think it’s time.”

Tony got up and wrapped his arms around Bucky, who was still sitting. “Thank you. That’s…” his voice seemed to trail off but Steve could tell that it would have broken if he had continued right away. “That’s more than anyone has been willing to do for me in a long time.”

Bucky hugged him back, burying his face in Tony’s shoulder. “I’m doing it as much for us as for you.” 

Tony drew back looking from Bucky to Steve. “You really want me to stay?”

Bucky laughed at him, “I got the impression we had no say in the matter anyway.”

Before Tony could go back to scowling at them, Steve said, “And we very much want you to stay.”

For a moment Tony looked like he was utterly lost and didn’t know what to do with that information. Thinking about a line they had clearly crossed last night, Steve said, “Of course we should lay down some ground rules if we are going to live together.”

Tony leaned back from the two of them and crossed his arms over his chest.

Steve cursed himself for his awful timing, and judging by Bucky’s face, he was doing the same. Suddenly restless, he got up and went around his chair to lean on the back of it. “I only meant that we don’t want to make it awkward for you or do something that you don’t like.”

“Like what? Getting me all hot and bothered and then leaving me hanging to screw each other’s brains out without me?”

Steve could feel his eyes going unnaturally wide. He ran the words through his head several times but came up with no way to interpret them any differently. 

Bucky asked, “You mean you wanted to join?”

“You rubbed my tail! Where did you think that would lead?”

Steve wasn’t sure how to ask. “Your tail is like … like … sensitive?”

Tony blinked three times in rapid succession. “Yes? What did you think what was happening?”

“That you were enjoying some very harmless petting while we got inappropriately aroused, and we’d be lucky if you were still willing to talk to us perverts in the morning?” Bucky said.

Tony’s tail slowly flicked from side to side. “So, if I was actually interested in you two perverts like that, that would have changed things?”

Steve didn’t catch himself before saying, “Fuck yes.”

Tony gave him a once over and then Steve had a fraction of a second to register the way Tony’s muscles were moving before he pounced. Instinctively, Steve moved to catch him and wrapped his arms around Tony, although he didn’t seem to need the support, and in the next moment Tony’s mouth was closing over his. Tony’s kisses were much like himself, very sweet until suddenly there were teeth involved, which made it even better. Steve could hear Bucky laughing somewhere behind Tony, but he couldn’t have cared less. 

After a minute, Bucky spoke up, teasingly, “And I get no attention over here?”

Tony removed his mouth from Steve’s and looked over his shoulder. Bucky had gotten up of his chair and seemed about to come over to them. 

Steve didn’t entirely process the movement that Tony made, but in the next moment he had to put one foot back to keep his own balance as Tony twisted around, pushed off him and landed in Bucky’s arms.

Steve heard Bucky mumble “Wow, that’s hot” before Tony kissed him. All sounds he made after were garbled but very content.

Steve would have liked to think that he gave them as much time as he’d gotten but that was almost certainly not true. When he crossed the distance to where they were still standing beside the dining table, he pressed himself along Tony’s back, sandwiching him between the two of them.

He put his right hand on Tony’s butt and squeezed, causing satisfaction to roll through him at the guttural sound Tony made into Bucky’s mouth. Wrapping his left arm around them, his hand came to rest on Bucky’s waist. It felt familiar in a way Steve knew it shouldn’t. But it didn’t matter. Bucky was right there and as he had said: there were too many crazy things about their lives for them to be weirded out by this. They all got to enjoy this bit of strangeness.

Bucky and Tony seemed unruffled by his presence, continuing to kiss as if there was to be something more gained from it, and Steve could see that Tony was not the only one bringing teeth to the event. The pleasure of watching mixed with his memory of how Tony’s teeth had felt on his skin. He could still feel the phantom pricks on his arm, only this time he didn’t have to hold back. He pressed his lips the side of Tony’s neck where it met the shoulder, mouthed at it and bit down carefully. Tony moaned into Bucky’s mouth and pushed his ass out, directly against Steve’s hardening cock. Gleefully, Steve bit down again and ground against Tony, his right hand wandering over the outline of Tony’s butt. 

Remembering what Tony had just told them, he pulled his groin away a minute later. There was a dissatisfied grunt and Steve grinned to himself. His hand found the base of Tony’s tail, and the moment he started petting it, he was rewarded with a deep moan. Steve put his fingertips into the thick hair there and started to massage it.

Tony’s hips moved forward and Steve was sure he was rubbing up against Bucky. “You like that?” Steve asked quietly.

Breaking their kiss for the first time in what seemed to be forever, Bucky answered huskily, “Yeah, he likes that.” Steve put his teeth down into Tony’s shoulder again and Tony let his head drop back.

“Yes, fuck, yes,” he moaned. Looking up, Steve could see Bucky’s eyes trailing hotly over the picture before him.

When Tony’s head whipped back forward again, Steve asked, “You want us to take this further?”

“What are you offering?” Tony answered, challenge in his tone.

“Well,” Bucky said, turning and pulling Tony effectively out of Steve’s reach. “How about,” he continued, hopping up to sit on the table with Tony still wrapped around him. “We give Steve some better access, he gets the lube from the nightstand because he’s the one insisting that it’s lewd to store additional bottles elsewhere, and then you tell us what you want.”

“What I want?” Tony asked sceptically.

“Yeah,” Bucky said, scooting up and lying down so that his thighs were supported and Tony was now straddling him. “We have no condoms here though, but if we make puppy eyes – or better kitty eyes – at Steve, I’m sure he would run to the bodega down the street so fast his boner gets whiplash.” 

Tony snorted, ground his hips once against Bucky and looked over his shoulder at Steve, teasing him with his eyes.

“Whatever you want, honey,” Steve said and meant it.

“There are no diseases on Midgard that I can catch, so if you two are okay without them, I don’t need condoms.”

“We are pretty much immune to anything,” Steve answered.

Tony looked at them intrigued. “Okay, you will need to explain that to me later. But now–” He leaned down to start kissing Bucky again, his ass pushing up in the air and his tail swishing from side to side.

Steve just stood there enthralled, until Bucky turned his head and said, “Steve, love, the lube.”

Grudgingly, Steve tore his eyes away from them and hurried to the bedroom, grabbing the lube. From the loft he heard the sound of porcelain smashing. When he came back only a minute later both Tony and Bucky were naked but in the exact same position on the table, making out. The coffee mugs left over from breakfast were in shards on the floor, strewn amidst the discarded clothing.

Steve halted for a moment, taking in the picture. He was sure he would never get enough of seeing Bucky’s naked body. All of it. With scruff and metal arm and muscles that hadn’t been there 80 years ago. And above that was Tony, more sleek but still muscled, and Steve had seen how powerful he was in action. And there were the ears, poking out of dark curls, and the tail that connected naturally with the rest of his body, fur giving way to olive-toned skin. They should have been alien, but Steve couldn’t imagine him without them. The bruises that they had seen two days ago were fading but still visible, and Steve was sure that with the way Tony loved bacon, they would put some meat back on these ribs in no time.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Steve stepped closer to the table, making sure he was making enough sounds to not startle them. He put his free hand on the middle of Tony’s back.

“Anyone ever tell you that you are absolutely stunning?” Steve asked, surprised by how rough his own voice sounded.

Tony turned his head to the side and looked up at Steve with wide blown pupils. “No, not in that tone of voice. Do go on.”

“Your body is amazing and this tail…” Steve slid his hand down to it and let it run through his hand. Tony shivered. “...it’s just so soft.”

Steve could see the protest come up and die on Tony’s face within the next moment. Instead, he moaned, dropping his head to Bucky’s chest. Impossibly, his ass jutted up into the air even more. Steve placed the bottle of lube on the table and brought his second hand to Tony’s ass, kneading it.

“Is this an invitation?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Tony cut out before biting into Bucky’s pec, causing him to cry out.

Steve walked round the table for better access. Left on it’s own, Tony’s tail was curving off to the side, giving full access to his ass and balls, his cock just out of sight. Steve brought his left hand back to the tail and his right to Tony’s ass. Trailing his fingers up and down the right ass cheek and getting ever closer to the cleave of Tony’s ass, he asked, “So, what do you like more? This?” He kept his right hand still and instead rubbed his fingers along the base of Tony’s tail. “Or this?” He then kept his left still and instead stroked the cheek even nearer to Tony’s hole.

All Tony gave was a deep growl and in the next moment Bucky cried out, as Tony had obviously bitten him harder than before. 

“Do that again,” Bucky gasped after a second, and Steve wasn’t sure who he meant. He put his finger at the top of Tony’s butt and pulled it along the divide all the way down to the puckered skin of his hole. The hand on Tony’s tail slowly stroked upwards. Tony moaned and Bucky burst out just a moment later, “God, yes! I love those canines.”

Steve chuckled and removed both of his hands to open the lube. Tony’s head whipped around and he glared at Steve. “Just getting you lubed up. Patience.” He was unsure if he actually heard a soft growl.

Steve trickled a generous amount of lube directly onto Tony’s crack. Tony shivered shortly, his head dropping back to Bucky’s neck and the tip of his tail flicking once. Steve could feel him relax when he placed his hand on Tony’s butt, rubbing his thumb back and forth over his hole. He placed his left close to the base of the tail, not touching it. Tony was so responsive, so easy to play with. Steve loved it, but wanted to be sure everyone was on the same page this time.

“Tell me what you like. I’m guessing I’ll finger you open for a bit, but what then? Hmm?” he asked. 

Steve could hear Tony’s moan muffled by Bucky’s neck. He continued, “Want Bucky to fuck you while I suck your dick?” If Steve wasn’t mistaken, there was a gasp from Tony and Bucky at the same time. For all of Bucky’s bluster, he was easily silenced when Steve put his mind to it in bed. “If we do it right, he could also put a hand or two on that tail of yours.” Another yell from Bucky told Steve that Tony had bitten him again. “Be careful with that jugular. Supersoldier or not, that would definitely put a stop to sexy time.”

Instead of another moan a chuckle erupted from the top of the table. 

“Sexy time? Really?” Tony asked. 

Bucky answered, “As suave as Steve is in bed, he sometimes pulls one like that out.” They were both chuckling. 

“Well, I can shut up.” Steve said and slowly sunk his thumb into Tony. The muscle gave way readily, and the chuckling turned into a moan.

“Yes, yes. Oh, yes,” Tony chanted.

Steve slowly moved his thumb in and out, reveling in the smooth glide and Tony’s continuous babbling. He could see how Bucky’s hand crept in between his and Tony’s bodies only to be swatted away by Tony the next second. Instead, Tony placed his own hand there, whether pulling on his own cock or Bucky’s Steve could only guess. 

He replaced his thumb with his index finger, reaching a good bit deeper, and a moment later added his middle finger.

“You still haven’t told me how you want to do this.” Steve pulled both fingers out completely and plunged them back in. He took a moment to locate Tony’s prostate. Tony’s hitching breath told him when he had found it. Carefully rubbing his fingers up against it, he continued, “We can’t give you what you want if you don’t tell us.”

Slowly rubbing his left hand along Tony’s tail, he said, “I think you were very interested in the part where Bucky had a hand on your tail.”

“Yes, oh Norns, yes. And the fucking part. And the blow job.” There was a pause with Tony breathing heavily. Bucky suddenly made a strangled, moaning sound. “And I could suck you off, too.” 

“Bucky, you alright with that?”

“If you continue with the talking and Tony keeps his hand on my dick, we won’t get there before I’m done.”

“In that case…” Steve pulled his fingers out and grabbed a paper napkin from the counter to clean them off.

Bucky was already sitting up, forcing Tony to sit back on his haunches. Rounding the table, Steve took the opportunity to kiss Bucky. He looked a mess with his hair tangled, his lips swollen and bite marks strewn over his neck and pecs. Steve lost himself in the connection and Bucky’s hot mouth. The disheveled sight was familiar but also completely new, caused as it was by Tony and not Steve. Their kissing was disrupted when Tony wrapped his arms around Steve’s shoulders. When Steve turned to look at him, Tony crawled into his arms. 

Steve laughed. “You expect to be carried to the bedroom?”

“I didn’t actually think that far. I just wanted to climb you.”

Bucky interrupted, “Anyhow, get going.”

They made it to the bedroom, although at one point Bucky had to steer Steve in the right direction so he didn’t run into the doorframe while Tony was kissing him stupid.

Steve let himself and Tony just fall on the bed, where Tony instantly began to rub against him. Bucky climbed up behind them.

“Any last thoughts?” he asked.

Tony answer was instantaneous. “How about you get on with it?” He turned them around, so that Steve was lying on his back, his dick at Tony’s eye level and his head between Tony’s legs.

Steve hadn’t gotten a good view of Tony’s cock before. Now he was invitingly close to it and immediately started to nuzzle at it, inhaling deeply. It smelled musky of course, but with earth and metal and something else beneath it. He felt Tony lap at his dick and bucked at the sudden sensation. 

Tony said, “I’ll stop teasing when you stop teasing.”

Smiling, Steve let his head sink back to the bed. Above him Bucky was kneeling up and nudging Tony’s knees gently wider so that he could fit in between. Steve thought for a moment all air had left his body at the sight. He had partly suggested it but it was so much better than in his imagination. He was too turned on to remember what he was supposed to be doing. Luckily, Bucky’s repositioning brought Tony’s cock further down and it was just intuitive for Steve to fit his mouth around it. Tony gave a gurgling noise and then took Steve in his mouth, his furry ears brushing against Steve’s thighs. Enthusiastically, Steve started to move his head up and down Tony’s shaft and the moans Tony made with Steve’s cock in his mouth were deeply satisfying both for the feedback and the vibration on his own dick.

Bucky was evidently ready to join in, as he closed the gap between him and Tony, sliding into him in one long move. The close up view caused heat to rush through Steve with an intensity he hadn’t known before.

Tony tried to say something with Steve’s dick still in his mouth and failed terribly. Pulling his mouth free, he tried again, but Steve used the opportunity to push his head up even further and swallow Tony down.

Tony’s head landed on Steve’s thigh, and he could feel the tickle of Tony’s hair and ear and the warmth of his gasps against the skin there. Satisfied, Steve bobbed his head, effectively fucking his own throat with Tony’s cock. Above, Bucky was pumping in and out of Tony in long powerful strokes, and all Steve could hear of Tony were little breaths that almost sounded like sobbing. 

Tony only seemed to find his voice when Steve had to lower his head to breathe. “This is going to be over very soon.” He sounded almost distraught.

“No problem, honey,” Bucky said, “as long as it is good for you.”

“It’s perfect,” Tony gasped and put his mouth back on Steve.

Bucky spoke up again, “How about I put that hand on your tail now, and if you want to have Steve come in under a minute try putting one or two of these wicked claws on his balls – carefully though.”

Tony made a curious sound and a moment later there where to sharp points on Steve’s balls. He tried to gasp for air, which was difficult with Tony’s dick still in his throat. His world shrank, until it only consisted of the feel of Tony’s hot mouth on his dick and his sharp claws, dragging slowly across his sack, as well as the feel of Tony’s cock in his own mouth. 

Steve had lost most of his finesse when it came to Tony’s cock, but the way Bucky was pounding Tony’s ass was pushing his cock down Steve’s throat rhythmically until none of them could hold out anymore. Steve couldn’t have said who came first, him or Tony, but when it happened, he sucked Tony down hard, needing as much of him as he could get. At the same time, five claws encircled his balls and Steve was not sure how long it lasted, but he gulped every bit of Tony’s orgasm down as Tony did the same. 

Only when Tony hissed from overstimulation, Steve let his head fall back onto the mattress. Tony rolled off to the side while Bucky had plopped back on his butt. He must have gotten off at some point too, as his cock was slowly going soft, but Steve had no idea when it happened.

For a while all they could do was breathe. Finally Steve said, “Wow.”

Tony started giggling. “Glad I could help.”

“Help, doll?” Bucky asked. “You were an integral part of the production.”

When they had laughed enough and calmed down again, Bucky decided they all needed a shower.

After many pointed looks from Bucky as they all lathered up, Steve finally said, “Yes, you were right. It was a good idea to build in such a large shower.”

Tony looked amused and asked, “He complained?”

“He complained,” Bucky answered.

Steve fought with himself as they all soaped up and finally burst out, "Can I wash your tail?"

Bucky was watching over Tony’s shoulder, his face telling Steve that he must look like the bashful fool he felt. After studying his face as if to determine if he was joking, Tony said, “If you’re careful. And don’t rub against the fur.” Tony hesitated for a moment more before turning around.

Tenderly, Steve took the tail in between his hands and lathered it up. Bucky put his arms around Tony and was placing kisses on top of his wet hair, while Tony’s cat ears twitched to get rid of excessive water. It all felt so right, as if something was falling into place and Steve couldn’t believe that it essentially had only been two days since Tony had tumbled out of that wardrobe. They rinsed off and, between more hugging and cuddling, finally managed to dry off.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony felt unbelievably buoyant after the shower. He jumped at Steve when he pulled clothes from a pack and told him that he had specifically bought them for Tony the day before. It took them a while to actually get dressed. Bucky went out of the bedroom straight to his record player and put music on before dropping on the couch, pulling Tony on top of him to pet him and play with his ears. Tony felt like he should warn him that he had scratched people’s eyes out for less, but it was hard to do while he was melting into a puddle. When he opened his eyes some indeterminable amount of time later Steve was there again with a sketch pad and Tony was sure he knew what his motive was. These guys were weird. And perfect. They moved easily around Tony, not treading where they weren’t welcome and pushing right in where they were.

At some point they did snacks and Steve joined them for cuddling. When Bucky inquired whether they should start on clearing out the room for Tony, he was able to convince them to wait until tomorrow, to give them a day to just be with each other.

They didn’t ask again where he had come from. It seemed to be the furthest from their minds, with the way they were so obviously happy about him being there.

When the day turned into night there was no hesitation, just Steve pulling Tony up of the couch and carrying him back to bed again. 

At some point Tony was sure there would be more questions, about what had been and about what their plans for the future were ( _their_ plans!), but today was just that: perfect.

 

The next day started much the same, cozy and slow. They finally all had their clothes on and were ready to start their day when there was a loud bang in the loft. They all piled out of the bedroom door and Tony came to a dead stop when he saw the cause. “Loki, you fucking promised,” he muttered.

Amora, sickeningly familiar, clad in green and wearing her haughtiest sneer was standing in the middle of the loft only away one lunge from Tony if he put some effort into it. He thought about trying and rip her face off before she could say anything but he knew he wouldn’t even manage to touch her.

“There you are. Did you have a fun few days? Ready to come home?” Amora said in her sweetest voice. 

Steve and Bucky synchronously stepped forward, obviously ready to close in and shield Tony completely. At least they recognized a threat when they saw one. 

“And you found some playmates. How nice.” Her voice didn’t sound as if she found it nice at all.

Steve said, “Ma’am, I don’t know who you are or how you came in here. But we don’t appreciate strangers coming by unannounced.”

“Is that so?” Amora purred. “Strangers, huh? And what do you know about the animal by your side?”

Bucky seethed, “He is not an animal.”

“Is that what he has tried to make you believe? He is a familiar, one that has abandoned his mistress He’s a liar and a traitor. Unable to feel loyalty, like all cats.”

“I’m not a familiar,” Tony said, the words almost getting stuck in his throat. He had said it often enough in the first years of his time with Amora. At one point she decided she didn’t want to hear it anymore and banned the words from him, so he choked every time he had tried to say it. Loki had removed that and all other charms and binds she had put on him. All except for one.

“And it’s allowed to speak. How quaint,” Amora said, sickeningly sweet.

Bucky stepped fully in front of Tony. It felt good that they wanted to protect him, that they cared enough, but it wouldn’t help. Bucky and Steve had no magic. That was why Tony had agreed when Loki had insisted to hide him here. Loki also had said Bucky and Steve were good people, but Tony hadn’t trusted that judgement. Loki might have been a good when it came to magic, but his people skills were shit at times.

As it turned out, this time Loki had been right on the people front, but had fucked up the magic part. He had been supposed to hide Tony’s location, to shroud it from Amora, buy them time to come up with a way to break the binding spell.

“So, where is the wardrobe that Loki stole from me?” Amora asked, calmly as if she had every right.

“If that’s your wardrobe, you can have it back, but Tony stays with us,” Steve answered.

Amora’s smile was feral. “In that case, I will of course take the wardrobe and go without any further quarrels.”

Tony groaned. He needed to tell them, put his unarmored underbelly out there for them to see and hope they wouldn’t hurt him. But he couldn’t really imagine they would.

“If she takes the wardrobe, I’ll need to follow it. I’m bound to it. I can only get away from it for so long … and it hurts when I do.”

He felt both men’s eyes on him, while he stared resolutely at Amora.

Tony could hear Steve take a deep breath and determine from the way is muscles were working that he had the urge to attack but kept himself back. “You imprisoned him and you hurt him. Under no circumstances will we let you take him – or the wardrobe.” He was smart enough not to look or even twitch in the direction of the study where the wardrobe was still hidden. Tony could have cried out of frustration over the absolute futility of their efforts.  
.  
“I won’t need the wardrobe much longer.” Tony didn’t like Amora’s tone; he had crossed her by escaping and she was nothing if not vindictive. “I won’t make the mistake a second time of binding you to something that is so easily taken away.”

Oh Norns, she thought she was being creative. Tony should have kept the derisive tone from his voice, it wasn’t going to help in any way. But it had been decades of not being able to talk back, sometimes not even being able to talk for years at a time and he didn’t want to hold it back anymore. “Oh, what will it be? A cup that you bury under your house? A wire wrapped a million times and entangled in a rose bush? Tell me, is it something symbolic and overly dramatic?”

Amora gave the indication of a shrug with her bare shoulders. “You tell me. We can severe the old bond and do the new one right here right now. All it it needs is you and me.”

It took Tony a second to process her meaning. “No, you can’t do that.” That was crazy. Tony’s breath caught in his throat.

Steve cut through his rising panic. “Tony, what is it? What’s her plan?”

Tony’s voice felt like it was echoing through his own head, “She is going to bind me to herself.”

Steve answered, “That is not going to happen.” He said it with absolute confidence and sincerity, and Tony felt the warmth of someone caring for him and the cold of the unavoidable loss of it at the same time.

His brain kept on spewing random thoughts at him and one he couldn’t keep to himself tumbled out. “But you would need to take me everywhere you go. We both know that you don’t want that.”

Amora looked disgusted, “And I won’t.”

Had she worked out something new, Tony wondered briefly, but no. The magic she was using was old, powerful, unchanging. Amora lacked the skill to come up with something new and equally strong. “You know how the spell works, you can’t get away to far without hurting yourself.” 

“No, pet. It’s you who will feel the pain of the separation. I can very well go where ever I want. We will most likely need to dust off your cage, so that this time you’ll stay where I put you.”

Tony felt more than he saw Bucky setting into motion. Amora of course saw it too and had him entangled inthe plush pink blanket a moment later. It wrapped around him in tight layers, his legs so close together that he had no leverage and he just toppled over, unable to do anything than glaring furiously up at Amora. 

“After we’ve established how useless your brawny new friends are, will you come of your own accord?” she asked.

Tony closed his eyes for a moment. Three days. He’d had three days of everything he had wanted for a century. More than he wanted even. When he had been Amora’s captive all he’d wanted was to be somewhere else, somewhere he wouldn’t be used for his magical nature, somewhere safe where he was free to do what he wanted and free to leave when he wanted. He had chosen this place. On Loki’s urging, granted. But it had been a good choice. 

Three days. It would have to be enough.

Steve and Bucky had no idea what Amora could do, what she would do. It wasn’t a fair fight. Tony rather lose them both knowing they were okay than try to fight and risk getting them hurt or worse. 

He opened his eyes. “I’ll go with you.”

“No,” Steve said while Bucky yelled the same, sounding livid.

“I’ll show you where the wardrobe is and I won’t make any hassle going with you. But you leave them alone.”

“Awww,” Amora cooed, “you actually like them. You’re not just eating them out of house and home, like you did with me.”

Tony swallowed back his answer. All he could say would just taste bitter in the face of his imminent surrender. 

Steve apparently didn’t feel the same way. If Tony read the way he was watching Amora correctly, he was still searching for an opening inviting an attack. But since he didn’t find one, he apparently went for sassing her. “Well, we are glad to take him off your hands in that case. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Tony had to smile. Steve was an idiot but an admirable idiot. The rug shot up and tried to wrap around Steve but he dodged it and it slapped against the wall ineffectually. It wasn’t like Amora to miss, but then she had never fought against these two. Of course, Steve wouldn’t be able to dodge her attacks forever, but a warm feeling of pride still unfolded in Tony’s chest. 

The single miss made Amora angry already. “Aren’t you fed up with the chaos he sheds? All the bad luck? I had to counter it with so many amulets and charms, I’d have looked like magical supply shop if I hadn’t concealed it.”

“What?” Bucky snapped from where he was laying.

“The random accidents. Stuff disappearing. Because he can't control any magic but the power flowing through him reacts to his awful temperament."

“We haven’t had any bad luck,” Steve answered. “On the contrary, Tony’s been a blessing. That must have been some cosmic justice for your horrible personality.”

Amora glared at Tony. “You did it on purpose.” She raised a hand and fire shot up his spine and down his tail. He arched his back in pain and barely managed to hold back a scream. 

Then everything happened very rapidly. Steve, taking advantage of Amora’s concentration on Tony, grabbed the polished granite object from the sideboard and flung it. Amora tried to dodge it but stumbled over the base of the floor lamp next to her and the giant stone connected with her stomach. As her concentration broke, Bucky could finally disentangle himself from the blanket and grab Tony by his arms. 

“Are you okay, sweetheart? Are you hurt?”

Tony only managed to shake his head before Steve came up on his other side and together they led him into the study. Behind them Tony could hear Amora already getting back up.

The pain ceased but panic was settling in Tony’s stomach again. “She will hurt you. Just let me leave with her.”

They didn’t answer and a moment later they were through the door that Steve threw closed behind them before turning the lock.

“It will take her less than a minute to get through there,” Tony said. He loved these two fools for what they were trying to do but it was absolutely useless.

There was a thump against the door and then a moment of silence. Then they heard Amora scream, “Loki!”

Steve and Bucky were grinning at each other.

“What?” Tony asked.

“Magical panic room,” Bucky said. “We had Loki create one for all not magical team members.”

Tony took a deep breath. “She will figure out how to get around it.” 

“Then we will use the time to figure out how to beat her,” Steve answered.

Tony was about to lose his patience with Steve’s optimism. It wasn’t going to end well. He needed to understand that. “And how will we do that?”

Steve looked at him pressing his lips together. “First it would be best if you told us everything you know. Starting with what she wants from you.”

Of course he would ask that. It was the tactically sound thing to do. Tony could see that. But for a hundred years, people had only ever asked what he was useful for. He knew Steve didn’t see him like that but he still hated the question.

“I… She pulls raw magic through me to power her enchantments. The mightier spells that she is not powerful enough to cast on her own.”

“So, you are more powerful than her?” Bucky asked and Tony saw where he was going.

“I have access to more magic.” He huffed. “By far. But I’m no magic user. I can’t manipulate it. It flows through me to her.” He shuddered. “She called me her magic well.”

“But without you she isn’t that powerful?” Bucky asked again.

“Definitely powerful enough to get through that door.”

“Does this ... channeling hurt you?” Steve asked and Tony could see how the muscles in his arms flexed to reach for him but they didn’t actually move from their position. Tony was grateful for it. He needed to explain it to them, before they did anything stupid. And if Steve touched him now, he’d just curl up in his arms and would not be able to say another word.

“Channeling magic is a natural thing my body does, but it’s only made for carrying so much. The amounts Amora has taken recently have been much more. It’s been wearing me out.”

Bucky looked as shocked as he had three days ago. “That’s why you are so thin.”

Tony could feel how his tail loosely wrapped around Bucky’s leg of its own volition and he let it. He could give the both of them at least that much comfort.

“And now she wants to bind you to her instead of the wardrobe,” Bucky stated.

“Apparently.”

“That is not going to happen,” Steve said again with the utmost determination.

“Steve–” Tony started.

“Tony,” Bucky said, taking Tony’s hand into his own. It wasn’t fair. This wasn’t fair. “Please look at me.”

Tony raised his eyes to meet Bucky’s. Everything looked a little blurred. 

“Do you want to stay with us?” Bucky asked gently.

“Of course–” Tony tried to answer, but Steve took his other hand and Tony’s eyes flicked over to him. 

“The decision is not her or us. It is where you want to be, with us or somewhere else. Whatever you choose, we will make it happen.”

“Of course I want–” Tony was interrupted by Amora breaking down the door.

“That’s it. Hands off my property!” 

With an imperious wave of her hand, both Steve and Bucky flew through the air and smacked against the wall. Tony knew she only could be that reckless, using so much force, because she was going to harvest more magic through him soon.

The thought made Tony seethe with rage. When he’d first been kidnapped and kept in a cage, even before Amora bought him, all he’d been thinking about was revenge and escape. Then Amora got him and that wish only became stronger. But long years of first physical and then magical confinement had apparently made him mellow. He’d tried to escape several times in the first decades of his captivity, but at some point the stakes had risen and he knew that the next time would probably be the last because her patience was wearing as thin as her hunger for power was growing. For a century he had bided his time, but then she started taking more and more and he knew that soon he wouldn’t have enough strength left to even make an attempt at escaping. 

But he had gotten lucky. Amora had left to acquire something in another realm and he had known she wouldn’t be back for days. He’d made it far from the wardrobe, first every league tugging sharply into his flesh and spirit and later feeling the agony of every inch of distance he put between it and himself. And then his luck had turned and Loki had showed up, seeking something else but finding Tony as soon as he had cleared the wards that protected Amora’s house and had obscured him too. Loki of all people. Loki who still owed him. Loki who was in some way a friend, although each of them would rather bite off their own tongue than admit to that. And Loki who was ready to cross Amora. With Tony’s help he was able to break her wards and then transport the wardrobe and Tony back to his place on Midgard. Knowing that Amora might decide to visit unannounced (especially after the disappearance of her most valuable possession), Loki had suggested putting Tony up with Steve and Bucky, hiding Tony’s whereabouts magically. He had promised Tony that he would be safe here.

And now Tony was furious. Not because Loki had been wrong and he hadn’t been safe. But because he had been right. He had been safe. He had been perfect. For a short moment he could see a life not away from Amora, with Steve and Bucky. And hope had been the last thing he needed. Not when the outcome was as inevitable as it was.

There was nothing between him and Amora now. Well, Tony was not about to go down without a fight anyway. He extended his claws and hissed at her.

“Touch me with those and they are the first thing to be gone,” she said but she didn’t sound as confident as before. It had been a long time since he’d put up any serious resistance.

Tony was determined to find a way to hurt her, trying to find an opening somewhere. To her misfortune, one of the cupboards behind her came crashing down, the mounting suddenly failing. Amora turned her head and Tony used that moment to jump close enough to rake his claws over her face. A shrill scream filled the room but the next moment she grabbed his wrist and magic immobilized Tony where he was standing, threads of powerful energy winding around his limbs, no physical medium necessary. With numb dread he watched as the bloody gashes over her eye and cheeks healed and his claws retracted into his hands without his permission.

Amora looked at him as if he was less than dirt. Then she adjusted her grip on him, letting go of his wrist and grabbing him by the neck instead. “Any last words?” she asked.

Tony opened his mouth for a comeback, but nothing came out. She’d taken his voice already.

“No, well I guess we’ll start then.”

Tony could feel how the magic flowed through him. A binding spell was costly, but you could do it with far less power if you were skilled. Amora just did it by brute force. Magic tethers, like hooks, sunk into Tony’s flesh and into his spirit. These were the anchor points that would feel like they were ripping out when he tried to get away or was forced to stay behind when Amora went somewhere on her own. She was putting them in place on him; next she would take hold of the leash. As the new tethers attached, the ones to the wardrobe fell away. They felt meek in comparison. This was it. There would be no getting away from it this time. 

Completely drawn in by the ritual, neither of them had been paying attention to what had been happening around them. Amora stumbled and lost her grip on him and Tony looked around startled.

Loki was suddenly there with Thor by his side. Turning towards them, Amora grabbed Tony’s arm again to get more power, but her concentration wasn’t enough for all five opponents. Bucky was there, squeezing Amora’s wrist while Steve pried Amora’s fingers from around Tony’s arm.

Bucky gathered Tony in his arms, ready to to take him away, but he stopped abruptly. He glanced back at Steve who was busy dodging random things that Amora was flinging at him. She was obviously not able to spare more magic for a more serious attack, while also holding Loki and Thor off.

The soldiers exchanged looks and then both their eyes fell at Tony. Was Loki communicating with them telepathically? 

“Do you trust us?” Bucky asked.

“Yes,” Tony said, before he had any time to think about it.

Bucky nodded at Steve, who dove to wrap his arms around Amora’s midriff, locking her arms in place. Green light started to instantly lick up around Steve, but he just yelled, “Get going.” 

Bucky, still holding Tony close, turned both of them around. Steve, Bucky, Amora and Tony were all lined up in front of Loki, who stood in the doorway, power flickering over him. 

Thor boomed over Amora’s screeches, “Brother, do you know what you are doing?”

Loki didn’t answer. His face tensed in concentration and the next moment Tony felt it. Loki was manipulating the binding spell, weaving and changing it. He didn’t add or take away from it, but he reformed it. The essence of the magic tethers changed; the flavor was not Amora’s magic any longer, but Loki’s, and Tony could even feel some of his own magic in there, spreading warmth over his skin and throughout his body. 

Amora finally noticed it too. “You can’t do that!” she howled. “You don’t have the knowledge or the power! You bastard!”

Loki didn’t even flinch. 

Tony’s eyes widened as he realized that he couldn’t feel any connection to Amora anymore and … oh. The end of his leash wasn’t connected to the wardrobe either. He was tied to the two men before him. 

After a moment, Tony felt the connection spring to life, and Loki sagged down where he was standing. Amora used the opportunity to shake off Steve’s grip who tumbled back with a grunt. She made it past Bucky, who looked ready to tackle her when she touched Tony and howled. Her hand came back red and blistering.

“You can’t do that. He is mine!” she screeched, but Thor had already come up behind her and snapped some Asgardian-looking shackle around her waist and arms. He easily picked her up and that was it.

 

It was an hour later before Thor and Loki left with a shackled Amora. They were picked up by an older lady who explained to Bucky unprompted that she knew Thor from a protest for a community center she had held. He had apparently volunteered to help paint signs. She didn’t seem to be at all perturbed by the spitting mad, swearing and tied up woman that was coming with them.

And then they were alone again. Steve was standing by the door after having shown the Asgardians and the old lady out and Bucky was sitting on the sofa, occupied with his own thoughts, only throwing glances at Tony from time to time as to check if he was still there. As if he still had to. Tony was still perched atop the sideboard. He had retreated an hour ago and had been quietly observing everything from his vantage point. 

They sat in silence, each waiting for the others to speak first.

Steve wandered back over but kept standing to the side of the coffee table. “Loki said it will be alright as long as one of us is close enough to you.”

Tony nodded. He was still unsure how he felt about the whole situation.

Looking remorseful, Bucky said, “You have to know that we would never have done it if there had been any other choice.”

Tony nodded; he hadn’t known but he believed them. Steve continued, “Loki said he had only that one chance to get rid of any connection between you and her. There was no chance to ask you. I’m sorry.”

In hindsight a lot of things had become clearer. Loki hadn’t communicated with Steve and Bucky telepathically but over small communication devices in their ears that the team always used. When Steve and Bucky had slipped them in was something Tony didn’t know, but he also didn’t ask. He already felt stupid for assuming something was magic when it was actually tech. 

The way Amora had found him had been by tracing her own magic back to Tony and the wardrobe. That magic was now flushed out. Replaced by Loki and Tony’s own, binding Tony to Bucky and Steve. Permanently. Because it was the only possibility they had seen, not because they had wanted to.

They both had said that they wanted Tony to stay. That they were happy to have him. But that was different than being magically bound to someone who would suffer if you left. It had been the only way and Tony could appreciate that. And he knew he should be grateful. For saving him, for their sacrifice. 

Instead, he found himself feeling pissed. Not at them. But at the universe. How could it screw up something so badly by forcing them to do what otherwise would’ve been everything that Tony wanted? Everything they had said they wanted, too? They had wanted to stay together but now they had no choice. That wasn’t the same.

He had fled and been free, well, as free as he could be still bound to the wardrobe. He had found his small corner of the universe where he could be happy. It had been all said and done. And then his past came crashing back in and all was lost. But Steve had kept his word and she hadn’t taken him and now… Now what?

Bucky stood up, “We will find a way to get rid of the bond, if you are so unhappy about it.”

Tony looked at him confused. “Unhappy?” 

“Tony, since it happened, you haven't gone anywhere near us. You got up there as fast as you could.”

He was making a mess of it again, wasn’t he. Slowly Tony unwrapped his legs from under him. 

Yes, he hated that none of them had gotten a choice but he couldn’t say that he was unhappy with the result.

Tony pushed himself off his perch.

“Steve, tell me again that you want me to stay.” 

He kept on prowling closer to where Steve was giving him a puzzled look before he answered, “Of course we want you to stay. Nothing has changed about this.”

He took Steve’s hand and pulled him over to the couch, pushing him down to sit beside Bucky. Before he could ask him anything, Bucky answered, “Yes, we want to keep you. With or without the crazy magic connection that is telling me when Steve finds your sashaying hot.”

Steve looked caught off guard but Tony just laughed. The binding spell had it’s advantages, when bound to the right people. He gave Bucky a long lingering kiss before draping himself right across the laps of both men. 

“Maybe we don’t need to look for a solution that urgently.”

Bucky laughed as Tony silenced Steve with a kiss before he could protest on principle.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, as I had a lot of fun writing it. I always love to hear what people think. :)


End file.
